Before we start just a quick plug I have some new t-shirts out on my tee spring store, it's
been a couple of years since i've done some new designs so if you fancy check them out!
It’s a cold December afternoon in East Sussex, emergency workers are exhausted, they have
just witnessed destruction very few people will see in their lifetime.
An industrial site has been decimated looking like a war zone.
But it’s not ammunition, nor fertilizer that’s caused this but something that brings
joy and excitement to any festival or party, fire works.
It is 2006 and a fireworks factory and storage site is the Center of this week's video.
My name is John and today we will look at the Marlie Farm Disaster.
Background.
Our story starts rather differently for this channel, me searching on companies house,
basically for all you non brits it’s the government organization Incharge of maintaining
the register of all registered companies in the UK.
Don’t worry this does have some relevance to our story.
It is august 1997 and a new company has been vomited into existence , Sussex fireworks
and displays ltd, it is owned by husband and wife Martin and Julie winter.
They own a farm and they are planning to use a part of it for the manufacture, storage
and sale of fireworks.
Their paperwork doesn’t end with the incorporation documents however as this type of operation
requires both trading standards and the health and safety executive to license the production
and sale of what are basically small colorful explosives.
Now little information is available for the company operations before 2001 when it changed
its name to festival fireworks ltd, followed by a few months later Martin and Julie incorporating
a new company Sussex fireworks displays ltd.
This was to split the operations of manufacture and sale into two distinct legal entities
which makes sense as it limits potential losses of one part of the operation.
Marlie Farm is a small industrial estate located on the road B2192 in between Ringmer and Halland,
East Sussex which is around here on a map and not too far from the Piltdown man site.
The surrounding area is Mainly agricultural with little nearby housing, the winters along
with their son and daughter lived on the site in a detached house.
Also on-site is a steel beam fabrication company and although the land was leased from the
winters the company had no real other affiliation.
In 2005 the laws regarding explosives and by extension fireworks were changed; this
in theory would bring all operations of a site under 1 licence from the HSE.
But there was a little bit of a gray area that was the two companies the winters had
registered one for the sale and the other for the manufacturing of fire works.
Because of this the HSE were responsible for licensing the production and trading standards
remained in charge of the sale issuing a license to be able to store 350kg of explosive material.
In total around 21 tons of explosives were allowed to be on-site, the HSE had issued
a license in 2002 and was allowed to be carried over with the new legislation in 2005.
But the HSE would undertake semi-regular inspections of the site, one of which would be in October
2006.
They found a few issues with the site:
Including discrepancies between submitted building plans and the actual buildings on-site
which resulted in reduced separation distances between structures on-site .
Poorly stored mixed class fireworks, open and damaged boxes, and no full inventory of
stock on-site.
The winters are ordered to take action on the raised issues by the 5th January 2007,
they wouldn’t end up needing to do that because…..
The disaster
It’s the 3rd of December 2006 and Martin and his son Nathan winter are loading up a
iso storage container with fireworks and bird scarers.
The metal conTainer was due to be shipped to the Middle East, they had likely forgotten
in the rush that the company had actually been booked for a Christmas light switch on
event in Eastbourne.
The client who had booked the company understably getting a bit worried that
No one had arrived in the morning called Festival Fireworks at 1pm.
For reference the event was due to start at 4:30pm, anyways the company advised the organisers
that they were just about to leave and they should see them soon.
Which was not very accurate as their vehicle wasn’t fully loaded and the journey would
be at least half an hour in good traffic roughly 16 miles.
Now for the start of the disaster narrative I’m going to use Nathan winters statements
to the police for reference, but take them with a pinch of salt but that will come along
later.
So Nathan had retrieved some fireworks from another farm site earlier in a transit van,
but this wasn’t everything he needed.
They had to be made water resistant as just a little bit of dampness at the display site
can properly bugger up the reliability of said fireworks going off.
The solution is simple bin bags, wrap them up and they are pretty well protected from
the English rain.
He did the waterproofing in the van outside building D.
Nathan next needed ignighters luckily for him there were some leftivers from a previous
display that had been left in a lorry on-site stored inside paint tins which bizarrely were
filled with nails.
He then took the ignighters and placed them on a box on the veranda of building D.
Inside the building was many more already fused fireworks, during this time he picked
up the loose fuses planning on putting them in a box, when they all of a sudden started
infighting.
This was roughly between 1-30 and 1-40 pm, started Nathan dropped the ignighters which
then Set off the fireworks on the veranda spreading flames to the van which also set
off the fireworks within.
Witnesses would begin to hear explosions around 1-45pm and a few minutes later the first 999
calls came in reporting of explosions and fire at marlie farm.
Advert
It is roughly 2pm on Sunday the 3rd of December 2006, and firefighters are attending a fireworks
fire on the marlie farm industrial site in East Sussex UK.
Two trucks also known as appliances have been dispatched as part of a predetermined emergency
plan by the East Sussex fire and rescue service.
They discover a hectic scene unfolding, buildings alight, vehicles burning and fireworks being
shot out in every direction.
The on scene commander requested more fire trucks, by now a number of police had also
arrived on the scene.
Not long after a second fire is discovered at the builders beams site next door and a
team are sent to try and battle the flames.
Quickly this team are overwhelmed and were ordered to retreat, incredibly they managed
to leave with multiple gas tanks they discovered.
the firefighters are then informed that the shipping container on-site was full of fireworks
and was under threat from the growing inferno.
The commander focused on two main areas stopping the fire near some lpg tanks and the shipping
container.
Water had to be drawn from the winters swimming pool, yet again more information about the
container is received, this time about the size of the fireworks inside.
Quickly the decision was made to withdraw, the evacuation whistle was sounded, most of
the crews withdrew to the site entrance but not all..
At 2:42 the container exploded spewing out debris and flames amongst the farm, nearly
all buildings on-site were severely damaged and tragically two firefighters would not
survive.
Another 9 people were injured including police, firefighters and members of the public.
Several more secondary fires and explosions erupted across the site, causing ongoing danger
from projectiles, smoke and debris.
Immediately after the explosion a search and rescue operation was launched with help from
the South East Coast Ambulance Service and Sussex Police.
The injured were recovered but one of the victims remained amongst the rubble, Watch
Commander Wicker wouldn't be recovered until the fire was finally under control on Tuesday
5 December.
His body was carried out to a guard of his colleagues.
The police and HSE would spend many more days combing through the wrecked site gathering
evidence.
The Shipping container was not on the license and thus was in need for investigation.
The Aftermath The east sussex and fire and rescue service
would release a very detailed report on the disaster, it was pretty easy to find out where
the explosion came from, but what made the container explode well in their final report
it stated: “The continued rise in temperature inside
the ISO container due to the adjacent fire would eventually lead to the ignition of the
contents.
This could have occurred through two mechanisms; either other combustible material within the
ISO container auto-ignited and this fire then set off the contents; or the contents themselves
could have reached their ignition temperature and activated.
Previous research, including a number of tests carried out on the sensitivity of pyrotechnics
to heat, has shown that ignition occurs in the 220oC-360oC range.”
It was also noted that the large number of injuries sustained by those onsite was likely
due to the lack of perceived danger of fireworks.
The report would have 66 recommendations to the fire and rescue service, but ultimately
the responsibility must fall at the site owners, more specifically the ones who filled up the
container, Martin and Nathan Winter.
So that would lead to a court case of 2 counts of manslaughter.
Nathan's series of events leading up to the initial fire was rather confused, for his
defense he would claim that the loose igniters activated as he was lifting them, he then
claimed he dropped them on the box of fireworks thus setting them off.
However an expert called in would discount this series of events, stating that it was
highly unlikely for the fireworks to start unless the igniter is actually installed.
You know the odd storage solution of ignighters in cans filled with nails, well those nails
would wear away as well . I need to quickly explain how the igniters work first.
Electric igniters have two insulated wires, which at one end have a bridgewire coated
with a small amount of pyrotechnic material.
The pyrotechnic material is sensitive to both heat and friction, the heat is supplied by
a small electrical current which causes it to ignite.
But you don't want the friction part.
to protect the wire from this it is covered in a lacquer.
This can be damaged by sharp objects like nails, and the friction of inserting the igniter
into the firework is what can cause an unintended explosion.
But although negligently stored dodgy igniters aren't enough for a manslaughter conviction
the real crime was the unlicenced storage container full of explosives.
Nathan and Martin Winter were At Lewes Crown Court, in December 2009, found guilty on all
counts.
These were upheld on appeal in 2010, martin got 7 years in prison and nathan got 5.
Alpha Fireworks, the new name for festival fireworks ltd was charged with 2 counts of
breaching the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations.
The families of firefighters Geoff Wicker, 49, and Brian Wembridge received compensation
from The Fire Brigades Union
of £510,250 in 2016.
Well i'm going to rate this disaster as out right negligent and a 4 on my legacy scale
let me know if you agree below.
https://www.ife.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Incident%20directory/Marlie%20Farm%202006/Marlie_Farm_ESFRS_Report_2006_Name_Redacted.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/england/sussex/8415936.stm